London and converted some shops into milk bars, which were a such a feature of the City in the 1930s. Gradually the Company continued the process begun in Greenham Rd, gave up the milk side, while retaining its shares in the United Dairies, and became a small property company. The whole story shows a company changing direction, slowly and perhaps reluctantly, from farming to property development as economic pressures propelled it.

Coppetts Farmhouse continued to trade as a small shop for some years. It appeared in the 1934 street directory but this was to be the end. The oldest farmhouse in the area was demolished and the Wilton Court flats were built on the site. In the Wilton Road hedge­line was a noble old tree, so the architect built around it, preserving the tree and with it the old farmyard. As a result Coppetts farmyard is still open to the air and I like to think that, on a quiet night, one may still hear cattle walking up the lane to be milked.

The area south of the Coppetts Road Estate had always been a borderland between Hornsey, Finchley, and Friern Barnet, quite remote from the three centres. Therefore they had built their Isolation Hospital in this spot, in the open air. There also, just as in later days countries would build their nuclear power stations on coastlines or borders, far from cities and the mass of people who might protest, so the councils built their sewage works in the valley between the three boroughs. In a bad wind, the stench was everywhere, effectively halting all house building for years. It was only in the 1960s that the nuisance was moved elsewhere and housing began to venture into the valley.

London and converted some shops into milk bars, which were a such a feature of the City in the 1930s. Gradually the Company continued the process begun in Greenham Rd, gave up the milk side, while retaining its shares in the United Dairies, and became a small property company. The whole story shows a company changing direction, slowly and perhaps reluctantly, from farming to property development as economic pressures drove it.

Coppetts Farmhouse continued to trade as a small shop for some years. It appeared in the 1934 street directory but this was to be the end. The oldest house in the area was demolished and the Wilton Court flats were built on the site. In the Wilton Road hedge­line was a noble old tree, so the architect built around it, preserving the tree and with it the old farmyard. As a result Coppetts farmyard is still open to the air and I like to think that, on a quiet night, one may still hear cattle walking up the lane to be milked.

The area south of the Coppetts Road Estate had always been a borderland between Hornsey, Finchley, and Friern Barnet, remote from the three centres. Therefore they had built their Isolation Hospital in this spot, in the open air. There also, as in later days countries would build their nuclear power stations on coastlines or borders, far from cities and the mass of people who might protest, so the councils built their sewage works in the valley between the three boroughs. In a bad wind, the stench was everywhere, effectively halting all house building for years. It was only in the 1960s that the nuisance was moved elsewhere and housing began to venture into the valley.